I did this twenty mile trail run event a while back that went awesome. Then the next weekend I ran twenty miles with the training clinic on a very flat course on a very hot day. That was tough but considering the circumstances I thought I did pretty well. Then later that week I went for a ten mile run where my legs felt really dead. I decided I needed a break and took about two weeks off of basically no running. As far as I can remember this was the first time since April I hadn't been doing a progressively longer run on the weekends. The last week or so I've been getting back into it. Last weekend I did a seventeen mile run and felt alright. Over this past week I have felt weak but then better towards the end of the week.

Today I went for a twenty mile run with the training clinic that was just about entirely on the marathon course so it was a great preview for October. Around the halfway point I got a little stiffness/tenderness in my left knee and it bothered me off and on the rest of the day. Eventually my right one was a little stiff too from over-compensating. I considered quitting but I wasn't in real shooting pain, just discomfort. It was a real mental challenge to keep it up and the nice conversations I'd had during the first part of the run were harder to keep up. Of course I wasn't the only one feeling it on the second half. I'm glad I persisted though. I was running on what will be the finish of the marathon and the hardest part of that event. Keeping it up today when I wasn't feeling great and finishing will be a great confidence builder if I'm questioning myself at that point during the marathon.

So running isn't all highs and exuberance though there is plenty of that.